(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014. The former journalist took on former Union minister Kapil Sibal and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the national election from Chandni Chowk in Delhi.)
We in AAP can easily claim that the toughest days are behind us .
Wrong. Rather, the difficult days have begun. The challenges ahead are more enormous than ever before. When aspirations are sky-high, the possibility of going downhill is equally strong. 67 is an extraordinary number. This is a number of hopes. This is a number of dreams. This is a number which assures people of Delhi in particular and India at large that that finally their dreams will be fulfilled, corruption will be defeated and a new political system will take shape. For that, the AAP government has to refocus its energy, reorient its strategy and reorganize its long-term goals. In my opinion, the AAP government faces these ten challenges.
1. To create a model of alternate politics. It may be easy to govern and easier to administer, but the 67 seats the people of Delhi has given us because they believe the old model of governance will go and a new one will surface. As the old saying goes, success has a self-destructive logic. The existing political system was created when India got its independence and it was made a republic. It has been more than six decades - rot has set in. The Establishment has developed vested interests and together, they are corroding the system. AAP has to deliver a new framework for governance, and if it succeeds, it will be a natural claimant for the national alternative in near future.
2. AAP has to redefine Indian democracy which currently suffers from a top-down approach when it should be the other way around. Arvind Kejriwal has emerged from the grassroots. He was not thrust upon the party from the top. His idioms and phrases are different. Arvind has not rested a day since the parliamentary debacle for AAP, but Rahul Gandhi has apparently reconciled to the fate that things will finally improve like they did for the Congress after 1977. "Wait for the right time" is the motto of Rahul Gandhi. For the rest of us in AAP, the idea is to reach out all the time to the ultimate stake-holders, who are the voters. AAP has to continue its live connect with the masses, and this will be huge challenge for the party and government.
3. AAP has broken many myths in the past, it has to break a few in governance too. If AAP has to be true to its promise, it has to provide a clean government. And transparency is the first principle of clean government. Transparency has its own pitfalls which might create problems for the administration but for alternate politics, this is not a big price.
4. The ministers have to lead from the front. They will be constantly watched; minor mistakes will be hyped; the media will ruthlessly scrutinise them. AAP ministers can't compare themselves to the ministers of other parties as AAP has set a different standard for itself. So it can't claim to be judged by others' parameters.
5. The same rule applies to AAP MLAs too. They will be AAP's first contact with the people. They are the torch-bearers of the party. Their behaviour on the ground will decide the future of the party and their own fate in their constituencies. They should ensure they are just one ring away for any public service.
6. The government and the party both have to complement and compete with each other. The biggest mistake is made when the party surrenders to the might of the government. If AAP has to remodel politics, then the party should maintain its autonomy and if required, it should not desist from being critical of the government.
7. AAP has promised a participatory democracy. Decision-making and policy formulation in the government has to be more open. The administration must be effective, and it has to be accountable.
8. AAP has devised a 70-point action plan. It should be its most fundamental guide to its future and governance.
9. AAP has decided to provide cheap water, education, power and free wi-fi which has given a handle against us to opponents? They say AAP is going back to the old socialist world. We know that this is not true. AAP stands for a new market economy. But the basic needs of society have to be addressed. And a good mix of market and welfarism has to be evolved.
10. Finally, even if there is turbulence, rough weather, AAP has to keep its cool. A smile will be a hundred times better than the smug silence that mainstream parties adopt when they encounter criticism. We all have to be polite and humble in accepting our mistakes and assuring others that we are here not for confrontation but for cooperation. We are not the problem, but part of a solution.
I believe that this is doable. Arvind in his inaugural speech has given us to believe that we all have to leave our ahankaar (egos) behind. The arrogance is the biggest minus which the government, the party, and an individual can annexe with the attainment of power.
We are here to serve. We will give it our all.
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